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Romance,
Fantasy,
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Fairies,
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living in physical forms grew more finite as well, until only the oldest among them could transform at will. For the rest of them, their bodies became like shells, encasing them.
âFearing the changes brought forth by humanity, the Folk traveled to the places where the connection between body and spirit remained uncompromised: untouched forests, peaks of desolate mountains, and the depths of the sea. They relied on glamourâmagical illusionâto keep humans away. But no matter how far they went, one aspect of human life always managed to reach them: iron. Iron-infested air attacked the faeriesâ lungs. In its purest form, iron could burn the flesh from their bones. And at the height of the Middle Ages, when humans laid iron over their doorways and fashioned it into instruments of death, the faeries found they were losing the ability to reproduce.â
âWait,â Taylor broke in. âHow does that work? If faeries are spirits who put on physical bodies, how can they reproduce?â
âWhen faeries fashioned bodies from the elements of the earth, those bodies were as real as the earth herself. As real as you are.â There was an edge to my voice that I hadnât intended.
âI didnât meanâitâs just fascinating,â he said quickly.
I wanted to touch him so badly then, to illustrate the realness of my body. âAs fascinating as where human bodies and spirits come from?â
âOkay, okay,â he said with a smile. âSo the faeries just manipulated elements and formed bodiesââ
âFrom soil and leaves, from air and starlight. Yes. Call it magic, or concentrated will, or focused energy. So if a faerie made a body like a tree, she could self-populate. And if she made a body like an animal, she could give birth like that animal does. The earth is filled with miracles and magic, and faeries are no exception. For many centuries, they were blessed with the ability to have children.â
âUntil they werenât anymore?â
âExactly.â
He closed his eyes, scooting an inch closer. His smallest finger came to rest upon my arm. I stared down at it, savoring the connection between us in spite of the danger.
âWhat did they do?â he asked.
âThey didnât know what to do.â I exhaled slowly. I couldnât believe the tiniest of touches could bring me such joy. I didnât want to believe it. âThey knew they had to try to reach humanity and take back what they had lost, but they could not fathom how to do it. Humans no longer listened to them. They believed the faeries were minions of some demonic underlord, if they believed in them at all. It seemed hopeless.â
âBut it wasnât?â His voice was very soft now, the cooing of a slumbering babe.
âNo. For out of the darkness of their despair emerged a leader, whose cruel and cunning tongue promised to bring salvation to faerie kind: the future Unseelie Queen.â
Taylorâs eyes fluttered and I heard the soft rhythm of his breathing. For a moment I sat perfectly still, before passing the silent words from my lips: âMy mother.â
10
T aylo R
âHow old were you?â I asked, watching the walls in the stuffy basement room. Maybe if I stared hard enough, a window would appear, presto! Cracks lined the ceiling, hinting at a mess of leaky pipes in the wall, and I could hear someone turning on a faucet up above.
âEleven,â Keegan said, his desk squeaking as he nodded to Kylie. âWeâd just turned eleven.â
âWow.â I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. âWas it hard?â
Keegan shrugged. âThey wouldnât let me go back to Sunday school, with all those other boys. I guess they werenât worried about the priests.â
Sitting to Keeganâs left, Kylie winced. âThatâs not funny,â she said, nervously arranging her skirt. Fat black letters covered